Depression Talk

Earlier this week, we looked at whether talk therapy was on the way out. Somebody who did go to talk therapy was British singer/songwriter Peter Gabriel. Although Peter has not been diagnosed with depression or bipolar depression (as has been often rumored), he does get down in the dumps. One particularly bad episode was in 1988 after his seperation and subsequent divorce from his wife of nealy twenty years, Jill. (Sorry girls (and guys), but Peter has since remarried. And his current wife is younger than I am, but we’ll skip on to the next paragraph, shall we?)

In many interviews, Peter has touted the merits of going to a therapist. We have our cars inspected yearly, so why not our heads?

Peter has a particularly brilliant gift for describing very complex emotions and storylines. He’s also gifted in singing, playing music and matching visual images to music, but he probably would not like me to describe him as “gifted” or “a genius” in such areas. In many interviews, he claims that if you work hard enough at a particular job, you’ll finally be good at it…even if the job is being a rock star.

“Digging in the Dirt” originally came out on Peter’s 1992 album Us. There have been many live versions floating around ever since.

Enjoy.

There’s a very deadpan but funny animated series on YouTube by Lev Milnaz called “Tales of Mere Existence”. The one I’m recommending is “How to Cope with Depression”. For those of you familiar with “Tales of Mere Existence”, you will already know that the title is ironic.

One thing that is oh, so true is that not only will your family most likely also be as depressed as you are, but that you discover that far more people are more insane than you are. You can hug that knowledge to your chest at night like a teddy bear.

However, the film is a brilliant portrayal of why people with clinical depression don’t like to talk about it or feel as if they are aliens from another planet. This can make you even more isolated and withdrawn, which intensifies your symptoms of depression. So, the moral of the story is, “People suck.”

Uhh, well, no, I guess that’s not the moral, but it does give you comfort in knowing that you are not the only alien on this planet with depression.

(Mild warning: this video has adult language in it.)